The Buzz with Bees: Bee Bowl Experiment

By: Kendyl Carlson, Justin Frankel, April

Hamblin*, Kait Reehill*, and Conor Sullivan*

Presented 4 May 2010

Photo from:
http://www.bee-pollen-supplement-guide.com/bee_1_bg_042404.jpg
 Where: The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Pine Barrens

Content Study Areas: Disturbed and undisturbed locations. Areas with and without Angiosperms

Methods: Blue, yellow, and while bowls were filled with soapy water and placed outside
for a twenty-four hour period.

Previous studies: There was no Stocktonia about this experiment within the computer data
base. This tells that there was no Stockton research on it for this class at least from the 90s
to present day. We knew bees are vital pollinators, but not much else.

Questions: What encourages bees to a habitat? Is there a difference between disturbed

and undisturbed sites? Is there any difference between areas with angiosperms and areas
without angiosperms? Why is the number of bees decreasing?

Hypothesis: Bees prefer areas with angiosperms and disturbed areas. We believed the
color yellow would yield the most bees.

Results: Most bees were caught in blue bowls.

57% of the bees were caught in disturbed areas.
63% of the bees were caught in areas with angiosperms.
64% of the dominant bee, the Sweat Bee, were caught in blue bowls.

Data Supports bees prefer:

Areas with angiosperms
Blue
Disturbed areas
 Experimental
Design
Test Hypothesis: Compare bee bowls and
sites

Controls:
- Color of Bowls
- A Disturbed and Undisturbed area for
each site
- Same soapy water in each bowl
- Weather
- Leave all out for same amount of time Reject Null Hypothesis:
- Disturbed and Undisturbed areas affect
Null Hypothesis bees
- Angiosperms affect bees
- Color of the bowl affects bees
If disturbed and undisturbed areas, as well as
the presence of angiosperms have nothing to do
with bees, then there will be the same number
of bees found at each site in any color bowl.
 Methods
1) Chose sites

2) Gathered supplies:
•blue, yellow, and white plastic bowls
• water mixed with dish detergent

3) Went to chosen sites

4) Placed each color bowl in each site twice: one

disturbed site and one undisturbed site

5) Filled bowls with the soapy water

6) Left bowl outside for twenty-four hours

7) Collected specimens in labeled jars of ethanol so they

would not rot

8) Identified what type if insect under a compound

microscope

9) Identified what family of bee under a compound

microscope
 Study Sites
April 1st – 2nd Sites
POWER LINE
Disturbed: Tall grassland
Undisturbed: Pine(Pinus)-
Oak(Quercus) Forest with some
Red Maples (Acer rubrum) and
Black Gums (Nyssa sylvatica)
- Shrub layer of Huckleberry
(Gaylussacia) and Highbush
Blueberry (Vaccinium
atrococcum)
CORNER OF LIEBIG AND
POMONA ROADS
Disturbed: Cleared forest made
into a drainage ditch
Undisturbed : Oak (Quercus)-
Pine (Pinus) Forest - Shrub layer
of Huckleberry (Gaylussacia) and
Lowbush Blueberry (Vaccinium
vacillans)
INDIGO FIELD
Disturbed: Grassland with indigo
Undisturbed: Pine (Pinus)-Cedar
(Juniperus) Forest with many Red
Cedars (Juniperus virginiana) and
Pitch Pines (Pinus rigida) - Shrub
layer of young American Holly
(Ilex opaca) and young Cedars
(Juniperus)
 Study Sites
April 7th - 8th sites:
•Between Parking lot 1 and
the Arts and Science
Building
•Behind E Wing
•Behind N Wing

Half of these samples were

destroyed by humans. This
information was not directly used
for results. See Figure 2 for more
details.
The null hypothesis was rejected. We were correct with disturbed
sites and angiosperms, yet blue attracted more bees
Results
Carpenter Bee Carpenter bee from:
http://www.everythi
ngabout.net/articles/ Sweat Bee
biology/animals/arth
ropods/insects/bees/ Sweat bee from:
carpenter_bee/carpe http://www.fws.gov/humboldtbay/bee
nter_bee_full.jpg guide/images/howto/Lasioglossum_pav
onotum%20male.jpg

Yellow-jacket
from:
http://www.wor
sleyschool.net/s
•57% were collected from blue bowls
cience/files/yell
ow/pic07wester
•57% were collected from disturbed sites
Yellow-jacket n.jpg
•63% were collected near an angiosperm
Digger Bee •69% collected were Sweat Bees
•13% collected were Carpenter Bees
Digger Bee from:
http://www.bentler.us •6% collected were Yellow-jackets
/eastern-
washington/animals/i
•6% collected were Two-Spotted Bees
nsects/bees/digger-
bee-anthophorini2.jpg
•6% collected were Digger Bees
16 bees total were caught. For more information
refer to Figure 1
 Figure 1
SITE HABITAT COLOR Bees Social Wasps Solitary Wasps Parasitic Wasps Flies Beetles Ants Spring tails Other Notes

Disturbed Indigo Site Grass Field Blue 3               2 A two Spotted Bee and 2 Sweat Bees

Disturbed Indigo Site Grass Field Yellow 1       3         Yellow-jacket

Disturbed Indigo Site Grass Field White 1       1 2     1 Sweat Bee; a leaf hopper

Undisturbed Indigo S. Pine-Cedar Forest Blue         3       3 Fungus Flies; Mosquitoes

Undisturbed Indigo S. Pine-Cedar Forest Yellow         5       2 Fungus Flies; Mosquitoes

Undisturbed Indigo S. Pine-Cedar Forest White                 2 Mosquitoes

Disturbed Power Line Tall Grassland Blue                 6 leaf hoppers

Disturbed Power Line Tall Grassland Yellow     1           1 leaf hopper

Disturbed Power Line Tall Grassland White 1               1 Sweat Bee

Undisturbed Power L. Pine-Oak Forest Blue 3               2 Sweat Bees; Slug

Undisturbed Power L. Pine-Oak Forest Yellow                 many Much Larva; Mosquitoes

Undisturbed Power L. Pine-Oak Forest White 2               2 Carpenter Bee; Sweat Bee

Disturbed Liebig Rd. Cleared Forest Blue 2       4       3 Sweat Bees; Larva; leaf hopper

Disturbed Liebig Rd. Cleared Forest Yellow 1       3       2 Sweat Bees; Mosquito; leaf hopper

Disturbed Liebig Rd. Cleared Forest White     1   6       2 Spider; Grasshopper

Undisturbed Liebig R. Oak-Pine Forest Blue 1   1   3     many   Digger Bee

Undisturbed Liebig R. Oak-Pine Forest Yellow 1   1           2 Carpenter Bee; Cuckoo Wasp

Undisturbed Liebig R. Oak-Pine Forest White         1       2 Spider

Figure 1 shows the different sites sampled on April 1st and what habitats those sites were in.
It also shows the different insects that were identified in the laboratory. Most of the
creatures that were captured were not bees. The most bees captured were Sweat Bees.
 Figure 2

Social Solitary
DATE SITE HABITAT COLOR Bees Wasps Wasps Parasitic Wasps Flies Beetles Ants Spring tails Other Notes

4/7-8/2010 Disturbed Parking Lot Grassland Blue         6       1 Catepillar, Fungus Flies

4/7-8/2010 Disturbed Parking Lot Grassland Yellow         5   2 7 9 5 Leaf Hoppers, Cuckoo Wasp, 3 Fungus Flies, Mites, Saw Fly

4/7-8/2010 Disturbed Parking Lot Grassland White     1   3 2   4 Many Leaf Hoppers, Fungus Gnats, 2 Leaf Beetles

4/7-8/2010 Undisturbed Parking N-Wing Pine-Oak Blue         2       Many 7 Rolli Pollis, Leaf Hoppers, Fungus Flies

4/7-8/2010 Undisturbed Parking N-Wing Pine-Oak Yellow           1 1 3 Many Rolli Polli, Fungus flies, Spider, 1 Rove Beetle

4/7-8/2010 Undisturbed Parking N-Wing Pine-Oak White 2       4   1 3 Many Leaf Hoppers, Fungus Gnat, Digger Bee, Sweat Bee

4/7-8/2010 Undisturbed Parking Pine-Cedar Blue     1         5 1 Leaf Hopper

4/7-8/2010 Undisturbed Parking Pine-Cedar Yellow     1   6   3   5 Spider, Leaf Hoppers, Mosquito

4/7-8/2010 Undisturbed Parking Pine-Cedar White             3 2 Many Fungus Flies, Leaf Hoppers

Figure 2 shows data that was from six different sites on April 7th, yet
three of them were ruined due to human interaction. This information
was tainted, so we did not base our results on this table.
Discussion and Conclusions
14% more bees were caught in
disturbed areas than in undisturbed
areas.

Some studies showed bees have

a richer abundance of species in
disturbed areas (Elmqvist et al
2001).

Our study had the same number of

species in disturbed areas as undisturbed
areas.
 Discussion and Conclusions
Areas with more flowers and
larger flowers were visited more
often by insects, especially
pollinators (Bell 1984).
Flowers are crucial to
pollinators, for nectar and
pollen are their source for
food (Hook 2009).

Note: This tree was not in any of the chose sites.

About 64% of the most
abundant bees, Sweat Bees,
were caught in blue bowls.

Studies have shown that many

bees are attracted to blue. This
is because they see ultraviolet
light as the color blue, which
attracts them (Droege 2010).
 Discussion and Conclusions
Studies show that bee populations
are declining. (Hook 2009).
One factor causing this is
habitat loss (Frankie 1997).
Tilman explains that dominant species are
vulnerable to extinction because of the
following:
• trade off between competitive ability and
colonization
• remaining dominance go extinct
• and dominance drops of sequenced
• the effect is greater if there is already
habitat loss
• The effect is greater if the dominance is a
smaller percentage of a group (Tilman
1994)
North America has no large-scale
surveys going on about pollinators
or bees (Droege et al 2010).
 Further Study

What types of bees go out at what time? Why?

If more blue colored plants were planted in an area, would this attract
more bees to that area over time? Would it attract more species of
bees over time? Would the bees already in the site alter because of
this change?

Since vital populations of species are declining, is there anything that

could be done to attract more populations and help them produce more
surviving offspring?

Would results differ if mountain dew, or some other sweet drink, was
used as bait instead of soapy water in colorful bowls?
 Literature Cited
Bell, G. 1984. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B, Biological Sciences, Vol. 224, No.
1235: On the Function of Flowers. The Royal Society. Great Britain. pp 223-265.

Elmqvist, T. et al. 2001. Journal of Applied Ecology. Bee Diversity along a disturbance gradient in
Tropical Lowland Forests of South-east Asia. British Ecological Society. Pp 180-192.

Frankie, G. et al. 1997. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. Diversity and Abundance of Bees
Visiting a Mass Flowering Tree Species in Disturbed Seasonal Dry Forest, Costa Rica. Pp 281-296.

Hook P. 2009. A Pocket Guide to Insects. Parragon. 256pp.

Tilman, D. et al. 1994. Letters to Nature. Habitat Destruction and the Extinction Debt. Department of
Ecology. USA. Pp 65-66.

Droege, S. et al. Monitoring the Status and Trends of Pollinators. Received March 12, 2010, from
http://www.fao.org/ag/AGP/agps/C-CAB/Castudies/pdf/1-007.pdf.

Droege, S. 2010. Tips on how to Use Bee Bowls to Collect Bees. Received March 12, 2010, from
http://online.sfsu.edu/~beeplot/pdfs/bee%20bowl%20%20tip%20sheet1.pdf.